Assessment of self-esteem in mid-aged women.

OBJECTIVE To assess self-esteem and affecting factors in a middle-aged Ecuadorian female population using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). STUDY DESIGN This was a cross-sectional study in which 149 women (40-59 years) were requested to fill out the RSES and a general socio-demographic form containing personal and partner data. RESULTS Mean age of sample was 47.6+/-5.5 years, a 67.8% had less than 12 years of schooling and 33.6% were postmenopausal. At the moment of the survey 2.7% were on hormone therapy, and 2% were taking psychotropic drugs. Mean total RSES score was 26.6+/-3.1 (median 26, range 17-35). A 35.6% and 18.1% of women respectively presented total RSES scores below 26 (median) and 25 (25th percentile) suggesting lower self-esteem. Total scores did not differ when comparing older age, menopausal phases or time since the menopause. Logistic regression analysis determined that women with lower parity and an unhealthy partner were related to lower total RSES scores (below the 25th percentile) suggesting lower self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS In this mid-aged series lower self-esteem was not related to the aging process per se yet to socio-demographic female/male aspects. More research is needed in this regard that incorporates other sociological aspects.